Herbs annual, 40-70 cm tall, slightly farinose. Stem erect, sparsely slender branched above, green striate, terete, ribbed. Petiole slender, 0.5-2 cm; leaf blade abaxially gray-green, adaxially fresh green, subglabrous, rhombic to ovate, 3-5 × 2-4 cm, adaxially subglabrous, base broadly cuneate, margin entire or with 2 lateral lobes near base, not pellucid, apex acute or shortly acuminate. Flowers bisexual, usually 2 or 3 per glomerule, these arranged into interrupted spikes on slender branches, forming a narrow, terminal panicle. Perianth 5-parted; segments narrowly obovate or linear, united only at base, abaxially slightly fleshy at center, keeled, margin membranous, apex obtuse. Stamens 5, inserted on base of perianth. Utricle depressed, lenticular; pericarp adnate to seed. Seed horizontal, black, sublustrous, of same shape as utricle, 1.1-1.5 mm in diam., distinctly pitted. Fl. Jul, fr. Aug.

The name Chenopodium koraiense has often been misapplied to this species but is in fact a synonym of C. bryoniifolium.

Forest margins, slope grasslands, river banks. S Gansu, Guangdong, Hebei, Henan, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Shaanxi, E Shandong, Sichuan, Taiwan, Zhejiang [Japan].